Cathedral sees record visitor numbers as costs rise
BBCA record number of people visited Worcester Cathedral in 2024, church elders have revealed.
More than 255,000 people passed through the doors of the building, first founded in 1084, an additional 75,000 compared to 2023.
The landmark building's annual Christmas Tree festival also attracted its highest ever numbers, with over 61,000 people in attendance.
Despite its busiest year to date, Canon John Paul Hoskins said it remained a challenge to maintain the building, because of increased running costs.
"It costs about £8,000 a day to keep the building open and we are almost entirely reliant on donations," he said.
"It's always a challenge to keep it warm, but it is a medieval building so people do expect that, thankfully there are plenty of places to light candles. so that helps."
The boost in visitor numbers helped to increase donations, however Canon Hoskins said he was constantly looking for new ways to make the cathedral more welcoming and user-friendly.
"The place has been here for 1000 years, we want it to be here for 1000 more and for everyone who comes after us," he said.
Shaz Shukut said he had visited the cathedral regularly for more than 10 years and the increase did not surprise him.
"We love coming here, we do a walk down river, then come to cathedral and enjoy the ambience," he said.
"Worcester is a very historical town and it's absolutely beautiful, it's lovely to walk around the grounds in the summer."
Mr Shukut added he had noticed that more people were attending during one of his previous visits.
"There was a music concert last week and it was packed, it's absolutely amazing to see."
Nick Gjo said he last visited the cathedral more than a decade ago, but he was pleased to see it was "still in good working order".
"It's good that the numbers have increased, it means that people are still interested in history and want to learn", he added.
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